Tennessee Titans try to quash lawsuit by paralyzed club employee

KEN RITTER

Published 6:00 pm, Thursday, January 3, 2008

Associated Press Writer

The Tennessee Titans want a Nevada judge to quash a lawsuit seeking damages for a strip club employee paralyzed in a triple shooting that followed a fracas involving suspended NFL player Adam "Pacman" Jones.

A judge is due Wednesday to hear arguments by an attorney for the team who contends the Titans had nothing to do with Jones going to the Minxx Gentleman's Club last Feb. 19, and that the team doesn't have enough ties to Nevada to establish jurisdiction for the lawsuit.

It would be "unreasonable" to require the team to defend itself in Las Vegas against a case by the paralyzed man, Tommy Urbanski, and his wife, lawyer Nathaniel Hannaford argued in a brief filed in December.

Hannaford did not immediately respond Friday to messages seeking comment.

Matthew Dushoff, a lawyer who represents Urbanski, insisted Friday that Nevada courts have jurisdiction because the Titans sell tickets and merchandise in every state, and Jones is employed by the Titans.

Jones would not have been invited to the club for a party the weekend of the NBA All-Star game if he was not on the team, Dushoff argued in a Dec. 27 court filing.

The lawsuit was filed Oct. 19 in Clark County District Court. It seeks unspecified damages from Jones, the NFL, the Titans and the owners of Harlem Knights, a Houston strip club that rented the Las Vegas club for the party the night of the shooting.

Jones' lawyer, Robert Langford, has denied Jones had any responsibility for Urbanski's injuries.

NFL lawyers have not sought to quash the lawsuit. But NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said league officials believe there is no legal basis for Urbanski's claim against the league.

A Las Vegas lawyer for Harlem Knights representative Chris Mitchell did not immediately respond Friday to a request for comment.

In a related case, Las Vegas police filed documents Thursday asking a district court judge to decide whether police should return a trash bag full of $81,020 in $1 bills to Jones or to Mitchell.

Witnesses told authorities Jones grabbed money from the bag and showered strippers on stage with cash in an act known as "making it rain." A melee ensued, and shots rang out after club employees ejected Jones and others. After the shooting, police confiscated the bag from a hotel room rented by Mitchell.

Jones, 24, pleaded no contest Dec. 6 to a reduced charge of conspiracy to commit disorderly conduct, a gross misdemeanor, in the brawl inside the club.

No one has been charged in the shooting, but police called Jones an "inciter" of the fighting inside. Prosecutors have said they hope Jones can provide information leading to the arrest of the gunman.

Jones has been promised a sentence of one year of probation after he testifies about what he knows about the shooting, which left two others with minor injuries. In return, prosecutors dropped two charges of coercion, a felony carrying a possible sentence of one to six years in prison.

Jones was suspended for the 2007 season for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy after having been arrested six times since he was drafted.

Urbanski was shot four times and was left paralyzed from the waist down in the shooting. He spent several months rehabilitating at a Denver hospital before returning to the area in August.

Urbanski told reporters he holds the NFL responsible for his injuries because he believed they ignored Jones' previous run-ins with police. His lawsuit claims the Titans "enabled" Jones' conduct "which forseeably resulted" in the shooting.